Game Time Set For Florida-Michigan Match-up

posted by Seth Harp -
May 25, 2017

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 2017 AdvoCare Classic kicks off the college football season with a marquee cross-sectional matchup between the Florida Gators and Michigan Wolverines, which will be played on Saturday, Sept. 2, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

It will be the first-ever regular season meeting between the two programs.

UF will be making its first-ever appearance in the AdvoCare Classic and will be playing its first-ever game at AT&T Stadium. Meanwhile, UM will make its second appearance in the series and, for the second time, will face an SEC foe. Michigan also opened the 2012 season in what was then known as the Cowboys Classic, falling to eventual national champion Alabama 41-14 before a crowd of 90,413, the largest crowd to ever see a college football game in AT&T Stadium.

This contest marks the ninth overall game in the AdvoCare Classic series and the third SEC vs. Big Ten matchup. The SEC is undefeated in such games, with Alabama defeating Michigan 41-14 in 2012 and Wisconsin 35-17 in 2015. The SEC is 5-0 overall in AdvoCare Classic games with victories in five of the series’ past six games.

In addition, the winner of the AdvoCare Classic game in each of the past three years has advanced to the College Football Playoff.

Series History

Although this is the first regular season meeting between the schools, it is the fourth time they will go head-to-head on the gridiron as the previous three contests were in bowl games. Michigan is undefeated in the series with postseason wins against the Gators in the 2003 Outback Bowl (38-30), 2008 Capital One Bowl (41-35) and 2016 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl (41-7).

Florida in Season Openers

· This game marks the first time since 1987 that Florida will not open its season at home.

· This contest marks the first time since 1984 that the Gators will begin their season with a neutral site game.

o In addition, this will be the first time since 1979 that Florida will begin its season with a game outside the state of Florida.

· This marks the first time since 1991 (at Syracuse) that Florida will play a non-SEC Power 5 opponent (outside of Florida State & Miami (FL)) during the regular season.

· Overall, Florida has won its last 27 season openers, which is the longest active streak in the country.

· Florida holds an 83-27 all-time record in season openers, including 68-7 in Gainesville and 53-4 in The Swamp.

· In the Gators’ last 10 season-openers, UF has outscored opponents by a combined 443-71 (44.3-7.1 per game).